


Contact

by CaramelKruze



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, First Kiss, Fluff, Gavin Reed is Bad at Feelings, Hurt/Comfort, Just a knife injury while on a case, M/M, Minor Violence, RK900 is called 'Nines', Self-Esteem Issues, Soft Upgraded Connor | RK900, Swearing, Touch-Starved, Touch-Starved Gavin Reed, Touch-Starved RK900, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Different Name, just a little, kinda i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:15:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23628298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaramelKruze/pseuds/CaramelKruze
Summary: Truth be told, Nines actually really liked the contact. He found himself thinking about it more than he wanted to admit. Physical contact was actually quite pleasant, Nines had realized.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 8
Kudos: 203





	Contact

**Author's Note:**

> I am back to deliver more touch-starved content since people seemed to like my first one. This will not be the last touched-starved Gavin/Nines fic you get out of me. Quarantine is kinda kicking my ass like that and once finals are finished I'll be able to write a lot more.

It started out simple enough. 

Nines would notice how Gavin’s hand would always brush against his; at first, it was only for a second, but it grew over time. Gavin, certainly, did not notice this, and neither would Nines if he was not an android and paying the utmost attention to the length of time Gavin touched him. Nines was able to see how the milliseconds grew with each passing week. 

He also noticed that Gavin would lay a hand on his shoulder whenever Nines had something to show him. He would lean closer to Nines, far more than necessary. Whenever they had successfully apprehended a suspect, Gavin would pat Nines' back once or twice while he huffed out a ‘good job’. Surely all of these touches were simply common gestures that anyone could or would have done, but the thing that stood out to Nines was the fact that Gavin didn’t do this with anyone else, at least not in the same way. Not for as long (yet still admittedly short). 

Nines found that he didn’t mind it in the slightest. 

* * *

It had been almost a month and a half since Nines’ initial realization about Gavin. He hadn’t questioned the detective about it, concerned that if Nines mentioned something that he would assume the android did not like the contact and stop when that was far from the truth. Truth be told, Nines actually really liked the contact. He found himself thinking about it more than he wanted to admit. Physical contact was actually quite pleasant, Nines had realized. 

They were on their way to arrest a suspect. It was supposed to be a simple, in-and-out kind of deal. It was not only Nines and Gavin, just to be cautious; the suspect was supposedly armed and there was suspicion that there was actually more than one person involved. There were four other officers with them to help secure the area; it was a smaller warehouse, so between the six of them it was easy

The backup turned out to be a good precaution. 

While Nines and Gavin went into the warehouse, the other four remained outside, their radios ready if something went wrong. 

Nines found the suspect first and quickly took him down with no incident. 

They were both about to head outside again when suddenly another man lunged at Gavin before Nines could even detect his presence. It seemed that the man had only aimed to distract the two long enough for both of the suspects to make their escape, but Nines quickly alerted the other officers outside after the first suspect managed to break out of the hold he had on him. 

Nines looked over at Gavin who had a hand on the wall to steady himself, the other clutching his side. 

“Son of a bitch. I liked this shirt.” 

Getting closer Nines was able to see what he was talking about. 

The man had a knife, not a very big or sharp one, thankfully, and had succeeded in cutting Gavin. Deep enough, Nines gauged from the blood staining Gavin’s shirt, to require medical attention but not too deep that Gavin was in any immediate danger. Regardless, Nines felt a pang of worry in his chest. 

“What are you doing here? Why didn’t you chase after ‘em?” 

“You are hurt.” 

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.” Despite his claim, Gavin hissed through his teeth when he went to move. Nines offered to let him lean on his shoulder to walk, which he gratefully accepted. 

“The other officers can take the suspect back to the station, I will take you to the hospital.” Gavin tensed at that. 

“It’s not that bad, I’ll be fine, Nines, don’t worry. I’ve had worse.” 

“Detective Reed, I insist. It needs to be cleaned and dressed properly. It should not need stitches, but it would be better to be safe than sorry.” 

“Look, Nines, I understand that, but I don’t need to go to the hospital for all that. Please, I’ll be fine. I’ll clean it and do all that myself. Scouts honour.” Gavin tried to prove his point by standing up a little straighter but instantly regretted it when pain blossomed in his side. When he noticed the look Nines was giving him, he quickly spoke again. “Nines. Please. Do not take me to the fucking hospital. If it will make you feel better, you can patch me up yourself, okay? You know how to do that anyways, right? Please, Nines.” Gavin sounded desperate, and Nines knew he was being serious. 

“Fine. If that is what you want.” 

Gavin sighed in relief. Nines did not understand his aversion to going to the hospital, but if Gavin really didn’t feel comfortable going then he wasn’t going to force him, however, if it turned out that the cut needed stitches that would be a different story. 

Nines helped Gavin into the car after making sure that the other officers were okay on their own. They had caught the two suspects, who did not expect anyone to be ready and waiting for them outside. 

The drive to Gavin’s house was quiet, save for Gavin’s deep breaths. If Nines tried hard enough, he could hear the man’s heartbeat, just a touch too fast to be normal. He could scan him to tell for sure, but he tried not to scan Gavin too often; he had told the android on multiple occasions that he hated it. 

Nines helped him out of the car and into the house. He had been in Gavin’s house many times before, as the two had worked together long enough to warrant the occasional visit to discuss cases. 

“Alright, I trust that you have a first-aid kit somewhere?” 

“Yeah. Bathroom.” 

“Okay, wait here.” 

After searching the bathroom, which was surprisingly organized, he found the kit. Minutes later he was cleaning the cut on Gavin’s side as he sat on top of the kitchen counter. It wasn’t bad, thankfully, Nines' original prediction was right and it didn’t need stitches. It was still deep enough to, as Gavin had said, ‘hurt like a bitch’. The only moment that stood out to Nines was when Gavin had been moving, making cleaning the wound extremely difficult, and Nines had placed his other hand on Gavin’s other, unhurt hip, gripping only tight enough to get the man’s attention. The reaction had been immediate. Gavin completely stilled, and Nines could definitely hear his heartbeat this time. Much faster than it had been all evening. 

When they finished, Gavin was quick to change into the clean shirt that Nines had brought him earlier. It was quiet while Nines cleaned up and washed his hands. 

“Thanks for doing this. And, uh, not taking me to the hospital and stuff.” Gavin spoke quieter than he usually did, not looking at Nines. 

“Of course, Gavin, you are welcome. Just make sure you keep it clean. If you are okay by yourself, I was thinking that I head back to the station and finish the paperwork for the case. If you want I can also stop by again after if you need.” 

“I’m alright here. You can go do the paperwork, knowing you, Fowler probably already knows I’ll be off for a couple days.” He was right, Nines had messaged Fowler on their way to Gavin’s and already gotten confirmation that Gavin would be off for the week. “Don’t worry about stopping by after, I’ll be fine.” 

“Okay, Gavin, if you need me just call.” 

Nines left, but he felt uneasy. He brushed it off, but he knew it was linked to Gavin’s refusal of his offer to come back later. Of course, he was fine with it, if Gavin wanted to be alone that was fine. 

Nines realized sometime later, that the feeling was disappointment. 

* * *

A week later and Gavin was back to work. He hadn’t called Nines during his week off, so other than the occasional call that Nines made to ask a question about a case they had been working together, the two hadn’t really spoken. 

If there was one feeling that Nines hated most, it was awkwardness; a close second was jealousy. Both of these emotions were the ones that Nines felt for a majority of the week that Gavin returned. 

He didn’t know why, but Gavin was suddenly much more distant with him. He wouldn’t meet Nines’ eyes anymore, and the touches that Nines had noticed two weeks ago were now more than absent. In fact, Gavin would purposefully, it seemed, keep a considerable distance from him. It was an impressive feat, given the fact that their desks were so close, but whenever Nines would lean over to look at something that Gavin was showing him, he would shift away, something he would never have done two weeks ago. The sudden shift in contact shouldn’t have bothered Nines as much as it did, but he found himself thinking about it more and more often. He missed it. 

He noted quickly that Gavin still maintained the physical closeness of his other relations within the station. It was only with Nines that he suddenly grew distant with. 

As upset as this realization made him, he decided that he was going to wait for a while longer and see if this was simply a temporary thing. Perhaps Nines was simply overreacting and reading too far into it. Gavin might not have been consciously doing it, and even if he was, maybe he thought for some reason that Nines didn’t like physical contact. That was unlikely, but Nines wanted to believe anything other than the fact that Gavin was purposely giving him the cold shoulder. 

* * *

Another week later and nothing had changed. Gavin still made every effort to make as little contact with Nines as possible, and it still bothered Nines much more than it should have. It wasn’t until later in the week when Nines purposefully brushed his arm against Gavin’s while he was looking over the man’s shoulder at a case file that he noticed a different reaction. 

For a moment, just a second, Gavin had leaned into the touch but then suddenly moved to maintain the same distance he had been for the past two weeks. He also noticed his heart rate, which jumped significantly. 

It was still confusing to Nines, but that was a sign that Gavin was purposefully avoiding his desire to lean into Nines touches. That was better than the possibility that Gavin had suddenly grown disgusted with Nines again; which Nines didn’t completely rule out, but he pushed back much farther on his list of possibilities. He didn’t want to corner Gavin and question him about it, because he knew that would not lead to any progressive result, but rather he had to think of some way to get Gavin to be emotionally vulnerable on his own accord. 

This was going to be an extremely difficult task. 

Thankfully, his opportunity arose when Gavin left work early and didn’t notice that he had dropped his wallet at his desk before he left. Nines may have purposefully neglected to tell him this before he left the station, but it was for good reason, Nines argued. 

* * *

He knocked on Gavin’s door, and he answered, looking visibly relieved when Nines held up and presented him his wallet. 

“Shit, thanks, Nines. You might as well come in for a minute, I was going over some things for the case and not having to fill you in tomorrow will save us time.” 

“Have you been doing a lot of work in the evenings, detective?” 

“A bit too much, you know me. And what have I said about calling me that here, you don’t have to be so professional when we aren’t at work.” 

“My apologies, Gavin.” Nines removed his coat and sat on the couch beside Gavin, a comfortable distance, he decided. He didn’t want to make Gavin uncomfortable. As they looked through the case on the tablet that Gavin held, he heard what Gavin was saying, but he would be lying if he said he was paying complete attention to it. He was far more focused on how he desperately wanted to be closer to him. A feeling that he didn’t quite understand, but was too strong to ignore. 

“Hold on, that person there,” Nines pointed to a picture on the tablet, lightly brushing against Gavin’s hand in the process, and the flinch did not go unnoticed. There was suddenly a heavy silence between the two. 

“Gavin, can I ask you something.” Gavin breathed out a heavy sigh. 

“Well, I guess so,” and a much quieter “here it fucking comes.” added at the end, as he put the tablet down, that Nines almost missed. 

“Two weeks ago, before you were injured, you were not opposed to physical contact with me. I have noticed that since then, you have both stopped talking with me outside of work and avoid touching me at all. I have also noticed that you still are able to touch your other coworkers, which has led me to believe that it is simply a problem with me. So I wanted to ask you if there was any specific reason for your sudden distance. I understand if you wish to maintain a strictly professional relationship, however, I would have liked to believe that we were, at the least, friends.” Nines couldn’t bring himself to look at Gavin while he spoke. He was afraid that Gavin might, like Nines said, want to only interact with Nines on a professional level. It didn’t make complete sense, but it was the only thing that Nines could conclude after the last two weeks. 

Gavin was quiet for a minute before he groaned and dragged his hands across his face. 

“Alright. Fuck. Okay. Uh, first off, you gotta promise that you’re not gonna hate me after this, okay?” 

This did nothing to reassure Nines, but he nodded nonetheless. 

“I do not think I could ever hate you, Gavin.” He was looking at Gavin now, and he noted the flush on Gavin’s cheeks after he said this, but ignored it. 

“Yeah, just wait before you say that.” Gavin took a breath. “Fuck, this is harder than I thought. Okay, so basically, when I got hurt and you were patchin’ me up here, I realized something. Before then, I kinda had a feeling that my feelings for you were a bit more than friendship; after that night, I knew for sure. That whole week I was off I couldn’t stop thinking about it… about you. Then the more I started thinking about it, the more stupid I felt. Can you imagine that, huh, you wanting anything like that with me.” Gavin laughed a little, a very sad laugh, and Nines resisted the urge to comfort him, opting instead to let him finish. “So when I came back to work, I tried to forget about it, but every time you were even just a little bit close to me it would be the only thing going through my head. I thought that if I just stayed away from you for a while then I’d be fine. Nines, I’m sorry. I honestly thought that you wouldn’t even notice. I thought maybe you would prefer it. That you would like it more if I wasn’t so close and annoying. I’m sorry, and I understand if you don’t wanna talk about this again. We can just go back to being coworkers and that's it. We can forget about this whole stupid thing. I’ll get over myself and whatever feelings these are and it’ll be fine.” 

By the time Gavin finished, Nines could tell that he was clearly upset. Though, it was to Nines relief that it was not with him who Gavin was upset with. 

“Gavin.” 

Gavin was pointedly looking at the floor, away from Nines. 

“Gavin, look at me, please.” 

Gavin looked at him, and Nines could see the tears that were forming in the corners of his eyes. 

“This whole week I’ve been worried that you hated me, that somehow I did something and that you were cutting me out. I cannot begin to describe how relieved I am that this is not the case. I missed you, Gavin. I missed you so much. You weren’t even gone, but you were so distant that it felt like you were, and I hated that feeling.” Nines put his hand on Gavin’s shoulder, and this time he didn’t flinch or pull away. “I care about you, Gavin, more than I originally thought. I don’t think you should feel stupid at all. I may not have a clear understanding of all emotions just yet, but I do know that I have never felt this way about anyone else except you. I have never felt this strongly for someone.”

“Nines… you must have horrible taste in people.” 

Nines smiled and brought his hand up to Gavin’s face gently. 

“Now that simply cannot be true because I _just_ said that I like you.” 

Gavin laughed. 

“You sappy little shit.” 

“Would it be out of line to kiss you?” Nines asked softly. Gavin smiled, brighter than Nines had seen him in a long time. 

“I’ll allow it.” 

The kiss was soft and sweet, and when they parted Nines rested his forehead against Gavin’s, smiling. 

“I’m not gonna lie, as much as I would love to keep kissing you, I’m tired as fuck. Kinda haven’t been sleeping right lately.” Gavin admitted, pulling away slightly. “You’re welcome to stay, though, if you don’t have anything else to do, I mean.” 

“I would love to stay, Gavin.” 

Gavin stood up, still holding Nines’ hand, and they both made their way to his bedroom and into the bed, both of them quickly ending up in each other’s arms. Nines found his hand in Gavin’s hair, running his fingers through it. Gavin looked up at Nines, eyes full of warmth. 

“I don’t know how I got so lucky.” He said, reverently.

Nines hummed. “I could say the same for me.” He pressed a kiss to Gavin’s forehead. “Sleep well, Gavin.” 

And for the first time in weeks, Gavin slept soundly through the night.

**Author's Note:**

> I am incapable of writing anything other than soft Gavin/Nines lately, but I fail to see a problem with this.


End file.
